Fleeing of the Fairy(& her unfairy teenage friend)
by Amy10
Summary: Starting at the beginning of the end of the book, this is what happens when Ella and mandy do get away...
1. The Flee

Disclaimer-I don't own Ella Enchanted or any of the characters. Gail Carson Levine does.  
  
***  
  
At home, maybe Mandy would know what to do. Or I'd hide in the cellar, in the stable-somewhere. How could I have gone to the balls? To put Char and Kyrria in such danger!   
"Mandy!" I shouted as soon as I reached the manor. A servant stared at me. I ran into the kitchen. "I've endangered Char again, and Kyrria! What can I do?"  
"Pack your things," Mandy said as soon as she understood my rushed explanation.  
"Where shall I go?"  
"I'll come with you. We'll find work as cooks. Hurry."  
I heard the seriousness in her voice and felt he fear. I tore upstairs, past a shocked Nancy, and into my room. I quickly slipped off my gown into a quick bag. I had very little with me: Mother's things, my language books, my fairy tales book, and my childhood comfort, my rag doll. I quickly raced downstaires, my eyes glazed and burning with tears. I was leaving so much behind! My darling Char... how could I do this? Though I knew I had to.  
I felt the tears flow freely as Mandy and I raced outside. Suddenly, we heard voices. Mandy alertly began using magic. Through my sobbing I was shocked at this change of behaviour. So I just crunched in a ball as we floated over the roof in the dark. Soon we were flying out of town...  
We lowered to a road, under a tree, and Mandy watched me cry, not doing anything. The tears finally stopped, but my body was still contracting with hoarse sobbing. Choked, I said, "Remember Lucinda? Remember? She came so... close..." I finally quieted. Only then did Mandy hold me. I groaned as she pulled out the ever-dreaded tonic which she had still managed to pack, but after three spoonfuls, I fell into a fitfull sleep.  
  
***  
  
r&r? ^.^ 


	2. The Map

I awoke to surprise. It took a moment to place where I was, but I soon found myself on a very hard and somewhat dusty road. I stood up and brushed off my maid's dress. Bewildered, I looked around for Mandy as the blast of the last night's events hit me. I saw her behind a tree. I cautiously stepped toward her. "Mandy?"  
"Yes, love...?" I could hear the sadness in her voice.  
"Are you all right?" She paused for a moment.  
"Well... I feel like this is so small compared to you, but I'm leaving quite a bit behind, too. It was so shocking... I should have known Hattie would do it... Oh, Lady, I know it wasn't your fault..." I stared at her and she cracked a weak smile. "I can't believe I used big magic."  
"Me neither," I admitted, also smiling.  
"Well, up we go!" She stood up, plastered on a brisk smile, and started walking down the road. As she said this, she slipped a bit of old parchement into her apron pocket.  
"Mandy, what was that paper?" She looked at me, obviously trying to decide something. She sighed.  
"I may as well tell you... come here, Lady." She unrolled the browned paper, which was obviously very old, and showed it to me. I stared at it, puzzled. It was simply a map of the roads.  
"But Mandy... It's only the roads! Oh, well... I see some trees... and an elf settlement over there... but what's so special about it?" Again, she peered into me.  
"It's a little fairy trick, Love. Remember the rug?" I nodded. She sighed, put her hand on the map, and uttered quietly, "House of Sir Peter, the greedy one." She smiled a bit as she said this, but I was much busier looking at her map in amazement. The ink faded into the paper and seemed to gush out to form the exact map of our manor! Mandy shrugged and smiled at my awe. "Yes, it can be useful at times..."  
"Did Mother know about it?" Mandy sighed.  
"No, Lady. Come along, we're wasting time." So we walked.  
Finally, it was dark. My achey legs looked very unladylike indeed, I thought wistfully. But I hardly tripped thrice. An oaf I am not! Mandy yawned and I realised we were in front of an elf settlement. A grinning chief came over to greet us. His eyes were large and wide, full of wisdom. He and Mandy exchanged quick words before he showed us to our leafy hammocks. The rules seemed different there. As I fumbled around for my fairy tales book, nobody said a word. To my amazement, a handful of glowing fairies got together above me to guide my reading, which consisted of a story of a sad snow pixie with a happy ending and one about a kind but stupid ogre with a triumphant one. I quietly turned the page, and to my surprise, saw Char. Eagerly, I tried to read, but the fairies suddenly broke out in giggles and I dropped the book. They flew down to it and raised it back up to me, but the illistration was gone. Crestfallen, I said a sombre and grim goodnight to the fairies. Before I fell into a slumber, I held the book close to me and prayed that the bit I'd seen would be back tomorrow. 


	3. Tears

"Ella, quick!" I turned my head groggily, lifting my hand to shield my eyes form the light.  
"Ouh?" I finally opened my eyes to see Mandy, whose eyes were wide and frantic. Her features looked sharp and the sky was grey. I sat up. "What's wrong, Mandy?"  
"Just hurry! Follow me! Gather your things, there you are, love..."  
The sleepiness drifted away and was replaced with a cold dread, which pooled in like a stream. I did as she said. I bent down bellow my hammock and hit my head on one of the opposing trunks near my belongings. Tears ran down my face, but I refused to cry. I got my things and quickly rose. mandy saw my tears and didn't say anything, but raised a finger to her lips and beckoned me to follow her. Terror becan to close around my heart like a jagged claw. Why on Earth did we have to leave? I'd though the Elf Settlements were safe. The grass was wet beneath my feet. I opened my mouth to speak when we got on the road but Mandy quickened her pace. We were far, far away from teh settlement when I dared to speak.  
"Mandy, why did we have to leave?" I saw thin tears run silently down her plump cheeks.  
Choked, she began to speak, but couldn't. she shook her head. So I just followed. 


	4. Rest

We'd been walking for about twenty more minutes when Mandy veered away from the road and sat down on a boulder. She looked around at the trees with wide eyes.  
"Ella." I sat down on an opposing boulder. I waited, on the edge of my seat, eager for her to finally talk.  
After a hesitation, she said, "We're being followed."  
I couldn't process this as bad. "I don't understand, Mandy... What's so bad about it? Maybe it's just some--"  
"It's Sir Peter." I stopped cold, my eyes wide. "We're ahead of him," she said, carelessly waving her hand. "But we have to move. Lady... I'm afraid. So afraid. I have a feeling he knows."  
I was a sponge, slowly soaking in this information, waiting for it to click. It dawned on me suddenly. And a million questions came crashing down. "But Mandy, how? He wasn't home on the nights of the balls! Besides, how do you know it's him? And maybe he's not even following us! Maybe he's just... travelling this way..." I trailed off. Mandy sighed.  
"No, Lady, it's Sir Peter. I don't know how he knew we were here, but... rose early and walked about the hammocks, meaning to speak with the chief about a certain spice to flavour what food we'll have during our travels when I saw him. He didn't even speak to he chief, he just snuck in and quietly and lay down." I looked at her doubtfully. "Ella, itrust me/i. Those are not good reasons, I know, but no not forget the fairy blood! I can tell... Ella..." her face became contorted and she got emotional. "Ella, you must believe me!"  
I was flooded with fear, sadness, and invisible tears. I wanted to deny it. It just icouldn't be/i! Why would Father be after us? "But Mandy, why? Why would Father want to follow us?"  
"I don't know lady..." she shuddered. "But his intentions are not pure."  
We sat together, brooding, for awhile. I thought of Areida and Hattie, the way she waddled like a duck, and heaved a bitter, inward laugh at the memory of her under the influence of bogweed. But my thoughts strayed and I was filled with a golden warmth while thinking of Char and I sliding down the railings.  
"Lady!" Mandy lisfted me with one hand, her eyes wide, looking at the path we'd walked with a mad panic. I dumbly felt myself being pulled into the forest. I looked up. Mandy was frantic looking, her eyes crazy with terror, her chins quivering. She watched nothingness. I felt scared.  
"Mandy," I whispered. "It's all right! Look, nothing th-" She pulled her hand over my mouth, looking stern. She motioned to grab my bag beside me and follow. I did so.  
We stopped by a little pool where I could no longer see the road.  
"Honestly, Lady! The look in your eyes! As if you feared I was mad!" She stared at me with her cold eye so straight that for a moment I iwas/i afraid, then she burst out laughing. Everything suddenly seemed safe.  
"But Mandy, what was that? Out near the road?"  
Her face was grim. "They are called slorkers. They are little impish creatures with a powerful magic of their own sort, and can go invisible when they please. But we usually get along well, slorkers and fairies... which is why I could tell that they were seeking us, for no good reason. But fear not, Lady, I will protect you." She smiled briefly.  
"Mandy?" I sat down, pulling her with me, and rested my head on her leg. She stroked my hair.  
"Yes, love?"  
"Where are we going? What will become of us?"  
"A place unknown to you, telling you its name with be of no use to you. Telling you its nature would confuse you more. But we can rest today. I feel it, Lady."  
We rested there for a moment before she spoke again.  
"Your mother would hate to see us in this situation."  
I closed my eyes, unwilling to cry.  
"But at least we're in it with each other."  
I turned against Mandy, seen as only a plump old cook, but was really my holds to the world, and sobbed.  
  
*****  
  
iI know! It's short too! But that's my style, I suppose. I like to keep you all updated, I hate to keep away to long, writing dreadfully long chapters. :)/i 


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